New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-13
A SOCIAL DIFFICULTY.

$40. nv dear, he said to his wife dccsivey.
,sHe's been acquitted and that is so FAR satislac
tory-to n certain extent, L grant you satisiac
Tory humanity speaking it almost impossible
that ne could be acquitted The evidence didn't
suffice TO convince the cOurt-martial. I'm glad Oh
It. very glad Of it, of course. for poor lriss sake
but upon my word, Charlotte, can't Imagine now
vn Garth they can ever have found 1t i'll their con
sciences to acqut him. In my opinion-humanV
speaking once mOre-its morally certain that zap
tain Burbury himself embezzled every penny oi
Bill that money"
Mrs. Brandrcth turned the telegram over ner-
rously, with two big tears standing ready to iaii
in tho corners of her dear mothery old eyes, ana
then asked in timid voice: $50 you've quiue ue
cided have you, Arthur, that 1t must DC I'LL
broken of between him and poor lris?.
The Bishop played with his paper-knHe' nan
stuck through "Ihe Guardian in his tesuy iash,
ION. "My dear" he answered. with the natur'1i
Impotence of a just man unduy lIoS 1Heu 40
male persistence, show is II possible. put IL 10
cou Tint we could ever dream OF lettihg her
marry him / don't wish TO Judge him harsfiy-
far be it from me to Judge any man i nope
know my duty as a Christia better; but still.
Charlotte it's one of duties, you lSnow-an
unpleasant duty, but none the less duty on that
acoount-not 10 shut our eyes against plain 1aSts
We are intr,isted with the safe-kceping OF our
daughters happiness and l say we oughtnt TO
allow her TO impcril it by throwing herself away
upon man whom we strongly suspect-upon Just
gpounds-to be quite unworthy of her. I'm sorry
That we must give Iris 50 much pain; but our
duty. Charlotte, our duty, say. lies clear before
u.s. The young man himself sees IL. Whab more
would you wish, wonderp'
Mrs. Brandreth sighed quietly and let the two
tears roll unperceived down her placid, gentle
fair old face. 1.-The court-martial has taken
more lenient view of the case, Arthur" She sug-
gested entatively after pause OF Few minutes
The Bishop looked UP from the table of contents
OF "Ihe Guardian with a forcedly benign glance
of Christian forbearance. Women will be women.
of course. and will sympathize with daughters and
so forth in all their foolish matrimonial entanglc-
ments. "My DEAR" he explained, with his prac-
tised Episcopal smile OF gentle condescenslon 10
the lower intelligence OF women and OF the inferior
clergy "you must recollect that the court-martlal
had to Judge of legal proof and legal certainty
Moral proof and moral certainty are. Of course,
quite another matter 1 might hesitate, On the
evidence given, to imprfson thls young man or
even to deprive him Of his commission In the
army, and yet I might hesitate on the very same
grounds to let him take my daughter in marriage.
1Io has been acquitted, it is true, on the charge
but suspicion, Charlotte. certain vague shadow
of formal suspicion must always In future hang
over him like cloud. C@sar's wife-you re-
member the Roman dictator said Caesars wife
must be above suspicion. Surely II even a heather
thought that, we, Charlotte. with all our priv
leges ought to be very careful on what sort OF man
we bestow Iris" And having thus summary
dismissed the matter, the Bishop turned with pro-
found interest to the discussion Of the evil conse-
Quenccs Of the Burials bill and the spread or dis
sent in the West of England
To mind deeply engrossed with these abstruse
and important subjects, the question about poor
Iis's relations with Captain Burbury OF the l5Oth
was, OF course. o relatively small one. Iris, IN
deed, had never been engaged to him that was a
great comfort In all this ugly, unpleasant BUSH
ness The young had only buzzed little
around the episcopal palace at Winchester.
danced with her, talked to her and arrived at a
slight private understanding which didn't exactly
amount TO q regular engagement and which had
mover been officially communicated to the parental
ear, That, at least, was O great comfort the
Bishop considered it almost prOvidential Since
this awkward question about the deficiency In the
adjutant's accounts had first arisen. to be sure.
the Bishop had learned from Mrs. Brandreth that
this young man (he always spoke OF Harry Bur
bury in that oblique fashion, had succeeded in
making q passing impression upon poor Ir1ss un-
bestowed affections. But then girls. you see, arc
always fancying themselves In love with some
young man or other, and are always profoundly
convinced for the time being that they can never
conceiyably be happy without him.
Meanwhile Mrs. Brandreth who was not philo-
sophcal like the Bishop but who felt herself most
nnprudently sympathetic with all dear MSS little
eirlish feelngs-quite wiclSedly so, she was almost
afraid-Nrs. Brandreth say, had stolen away
Quietly to her daughters room and was sitting on
the little couch at the foot Of the bed. with lriss
hand held fast in hers and hiss soft crimson
check laid tenderly on her motherly shoulder.
."1nerp there darling" she say ing with
tears in her eyes, as she soothed her daughters
hand gently with her own; don't cry, Iris DOM
cry my pet. Yes, do cry; it'll do you good.
darling Perhaps byc-and-bye when things blow
little, your papa Will think differently
about it,"
Iris took UP the TELEGRAM for the fftieth time
with fresh food of tears "FrOm Captain Bur
bury Mdershot, to Miss Brandreth, Eaton llacc.
London. The cOuu-maitial has acquitted me on
all the CHARGES. But can never, never see you
again.
oh mamma" she cried through her sobS and
tears. show cruel of him to say such thing as
that and at such moment!
"No, no. dearest" her mother said. "IIe was
quite right to say it, He feels the horrible sus-
picon rests upon him still, and he can't bear to
face you while it's hanging over him. No good
and true man could do otherwise But"
she added after moments pause, Il think, his
1 think. darling, ia spite of what lie
says. you'll probably see him here this very even
ing
Iris gave a sudden start Of surprise and pleas
ure "1his evening, mamma This very even
ing p she uicd eXcitedly. "Oh no, not after
sending such telegram as that. dear, surely !!
Mrs Branlreth had not the slightest idea In
the world that she was practical psychologist
probably she could not have pronounced the
word even IL you had asked her-yet she answered
quito readily: "Why, you know, Iris he must
have straight out from the coirt-martial
and sent off that telegram In the heat of the mo-
mcnt. just TO let you know at once he had been
at any rate acquitted. OF course hc COuldnt
help adding the desr airing tag about his never,
never seeing you. But when he goes back TO his
own quarters and thinks it little. he'll
make UP his mind-I know young men. my dear.
he'll make up his mind that he must just run up
to town and speak with you once more before lac
breaks it all of forever And if he secs you.
IIis-but, after all, why should he break it of ?
He has nothing to be ashamed of. For, indeed.
I'm quite sure, darling, he never, never, never,
never could have taken that dreadful money"
"Of course not, mamma, Iris answered simply
with prpfound confidence. What a blessed thing
1t is TO be trustful woman The Bishops moral
certainty was really nothing at all compared with